


I’ll Help You

by SophiexHorayne



Category: Ackley Bridge (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff, M/M, pls someone give him all the love in the world, protect cory wilson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 10:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15217184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiexHorayne/pseuds/SophiexHorayne
Summary: Cory is searching for his brother. Instead he finds the one person he is trying to avoid.(Set after 2x05)





	I’ll Help You

The world is a little blurry round the edges. It’s sort of spinning, and Cory is viewing it all, barely, through teary, watery eyes. He feels panicky, like he can’t breathe and he’s forgotten how. He just keeps stumbling. He’s walking up the road and it’s raining. He isn’t sure if his face is wet more from tears or the rain.

 He isn’t looking where he is going. It’s the last thing on his mind, which is spinning and whirling manically. All he can think about is finding Jordan, and the fact he doesn’t know how to catch his breath right now.

 “Jordan!” He doesn’t even know if the word is coherent but he screams it up at the sky. Then he screams it again, around the desolate streets.

 Then his face his in someone’s chest. Arms are on his shoulders. “Woah, careful mate.”

 He knows that voice. His mind is too hectic to focus on it though, knows he should just get away. He pushes off the person’s hands, tries to walk past him.

“Cory?”

 He tries to ignore it. Keeps stumbling. “Jordan!”

“Cory, hey. Calm down.”

 Hands on his shoulders again, his arms. He’s pulled into the person’s chest. He finds himself giving in, grips the person’s shirt. They’re wearing uniform, he closes his eyes, sniffs, cries out against the person, who’s holding him so tight anyone would think he may disappear into thin air.

“Cory, breathe.”

The voice is so soft. So familiar. He sniffs again, heaves his chest. Looks up at the person breathing. Naveed. He blinks as he looks at him. Suddenly the world comes back into focus, like adjusting the lenses of a pair of binoculars. He follows his friend’s breathing until he can feel that his feet are on even and solid ground.

Naveed. He’s here. How is he just, _here_? Right when he needs him. For a second all he can feel is relief and he leans his head back into his friend’s shoulder, puffing a breath out into his neck. But then he remembers they’re not even friends anymore. That they can’t be. That he is the reason why he put Riz in hospital. And that he was too busy checking up on Riz at the hospital to make sure his brother was okay.

He pulls away with a start, roughly pushes Naveed off him.

“Don’t touch me.” He spits the words like they’re dirt in his mouth. “Just stay away.”

He wipes his face, embarrassed suddenly. Then he turns, walks. He can feel Nav watching him, wonders if he’ll try to stop him.

“Cory please.”

There are heavy footsteps splashing up the street to join him. Then there’s a gently hand on his shoulder. He flinches from it like he has been burnt. Turns and scowls.

“I said don’t touch me.”

He hates the way his chest burns with anger. He hates how it’s all hatred for himself, what he’s becoming, and he hates how he is shoving onto Naveed. He keeps shoving it, though.

“Okay.” Naveed is so calm all of Cory’s frustration almost dissolves into nothingness. Almost. “I won’t touch yer. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Just get away from me.” He turns to leave. A part of him hopes Naveed will call him back, will pull him into his arms again because the world felt steadier like that.

“You’re not fine.” Naveed says, making no move to touch him this time. But Cory pauses nonetheless. “Please talk to me.”

He has to think about it. He stands there, staring down to the end of the street. It’s like no one lives here at all, even though it is lined with houses, dustbins waiting outside each for collection. They all look so abandoned. It’s all so lifeless, it’s eerie. He wonders how Naveed got to be here. His head was so rife with fear and worry before he appeared. Suddenly he wants to tell him everything.

He turns around.

Naveed is standing there. In the rain. Uniform a darker colour than he is used to because the rain has soaked it through. Droplets drip down his face, rolling from his fringe.

“Jordan’s gone.”

Admitting it makes him feel like someone has plunged their fist into his chest and knocked it right through his heart. There’s just an empty hole there.

“I thought he was going into a residential, thingy.” Naveed frowns.

Cory steps forward, almost only to get a closer look at his face. Naveed’s eyes are so soft, and innocent and wide. He’d noticed it, in the changing rooms earlier. He hates to think about that though. Cory shakes his head.

“He ran away from there.” He wipes water from his eyes, be it tears or rain. “I’ve got to find him.”

Cory turns to go but there’s the sound of trainers scraping against concrete and there’s a tentative hand on his shoulder again. This time he doesn’t flinch away, doesn’t push Naveed off of him. He allows himself to be cuddled back into his chest.

“He’ll be fine. You know what he’s like.” Naveed mutters the words into his ear.

He shouldn’t be letting Naveed hold him like this. He shouldn’t be letting Naveed come near him at all. And he definitely shouldn’t have let Naveed kiss him. He shouldn’t have let himself kiss Naveed.

But he doesn’t care about all that now. Naveed is keeping him steady, and Cory leans against him to lift his head.

“You mean that?”

His face is so close suddenly. Like in the changing rooms earlier today. It’s sort of funny. All his features seem smudged, like someone dropped water onto a wet painting and smeared it. But it’s sort of beautiful. Naveed nods slowly but Cory can’t even remember his question.

“I’m sure he’ll be back. Do the police know?”

Somehow, Cory manages to nod. He’s forgotten how to breathe again but it’s not a big bad panic this time. It’s just his heart is tickling his throat.

“Cory...”

Naveed’s eyes are flickering all around his face, his eyes, his nose, his lips. It makes him feel all giddy. That’s new. kissing a boy was new too. And scary. The way he’s holding onto Nav’s blazer, tightly, like it’s the only thing balancing him; that’s new too.

Leaning down and kissing him is sort of new too. He’s not really used to it, the way Naveed’s eyes flutter shut just before he closes his own, he’s seen it before. But he’s sure he could never get used to anything so beautiful.

Kissing Naveed makes his worries disappear for a second. _Jordan will come back. Riz will be okay._ But that’s just like him thinking he _wan’t gonna blow it_. And he blew it. He blew that scholarship away like the wind blows a dandelion. Only with more anger. And more broken necks. Maybe if he just keeps kissing him, and doesn’t let go, he can believe it will all be fine.

“Cor-“

Gently, but firmly, Nav pushes him away. He looks around the street, carefully, as though checking every window for nosy neighbours. Then he looks back at Cory.

“This isn’t what you need right now.”

His lips are still tingling though. And everything around him seems big and bad and messy once more. It is what he needs.

“You don’t understand.” Cory’s hands find Nav’s face, cups his cheeks. It’s just like this morning only the other way around, “Please.”

They’re kissing again. But it’s so messy, and Cory doesn’t really know what he’s trying to do anymore, and Naveed is trying to pulls away softly. Eventually he just pushes, not hard, but enough to get Cory off of him. 

“No. No, Cory you don’t need this. You don’t know what you need right now except your brother safe and sound, and a friend.”

Cory breathes heavily. He knows Naveed is right. He closes his eyes, calms down.

“I’m just, I’m really worried.” His voice wobbles, cracks. He feels embarrassed Naveed has to see him like this.

“I know.”

“I’ve had the worst day.”

“I know.”

But he can’t know. Because he’s kissed a boy, for some reason, and he’s ruined his chances at an academy, and he broke Riz’ neck and he lost his brother, and now he’s kissed the boy again and it’s all too much. Naveed could never really know. No one could.

“I’ve got to find him.” Cory says after a while, turns to go, finally leave this weird, working class, high crime, street.

A hand grabs at his own, curls around his wrist. “I’ll help you.”

Cory looks at him. Naveed just can’t give in, apparently. They’re both soaked through. They’ll probably catch pneumonia, a cold as a best case scenario.

“Why?”

He can’t be bothered with the pity anymore. He’s had it from Mr Bell, and Mrs Carter, and Mr Qureshi, and just about every teacher in the school. And Naveed hardly has any other reason to care.

“Why’d you think?” Maybe it’s the way Naveed says it. Maybe it’s how Naveed looks at him.

He likes him. _Naveed likes him._

It’s weird. It’s makes his body sort of tingle. His heart splutters. His stomach sinks. Like being at the top of the roller coaster, just as the carriage drops.

Naveed is still holding his wrist. He lets him. He should push it away. But he has pushed away so many today (some more physically than others), and he’s tired of it now. He just wants his brother back.

“Okay.”

They amble up the street in the rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, apparently I just couldn’t resist writing about these two. I watched the first part of the show when it aired but got bored of it (sorry). But I heard about these boys and watched it again, and season 2 is definitely better.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, kudos/comments arev appreciated. Thanks for reading x


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